Ashley Brzozowicz '04, Team Canada Conclude Competition at Olympics

Aug 20, 2008

Aug. 20, 2008

BEIJING, China - Ashley Brzozowicz '04 and the Canadian women's eight have finished fourth in the Olympic Grand Final on the Shunyi Racecourse. The final saw the U.S. women's eight dominate the entire race, finishing 1.88 seconds ahead of the second-place Netherlands. The real race, however, was for second and third places. The Dutch, Romanian and Canadian women fought one another the entire way down the course - they finished within .82 seconds of each other.

Brzozowicz '04 and the Canadian crew were in second place at the 500-meter mark. They were overtaken by the Romanians at the halfway mark and held third-place until 1500-meters. At 500-meters to go, the Dutch crew - then in fourth place - began their sprint. They recorded the fastest 500-meter split of all the crews in the final on their last 500. The time, a blistering 1:28.63, was enough to send them through the Canadians and Romanians and win the silver medal. The Canadians also pushed at the end to come back on the Romanians. Their final sprint, although the second fastest, was not enough to give them the bronze. They finished just .79 seconds behind the third-place Romanians and .82 seconds behind the second-place Dutch.